Digital Commons Network^™

Dynamic Resource Allocation For Network Echo Cancellation, T. Gansler, J. Benesty, M. Mohan Sondhi, Steven L. Grant

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Network echo canceler chips are designed to handle several channels simultaneously. With the processing speeds now available, a single chip might handle several hundred channels. In current implementations, however, the adaptation algorithm is designed for a single channel, and the computations are replicated N c times, where N c is the number of channels. With such an implementation, the computational requirement is N c times the peak load for a single channel. The number of computations required in each channel, however, varies widely over time. Therefore, a considerable reduction in computational load can be achieved by designing the system for …

Multi-Level Voltage-Source Duty-Cycle Modulation: Analysis And Implementation, Keith Corzine, J. R. Baker

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Multi-level converters have become increasingly popular due to high power quality, high-voltage capability, low switching losses, and low EMC concerns. Considering these advantages, the multi-level converter is a suitable candidate for implementation of future naval ship propulsion systems. This paper focuses on modulation techniques for the multi-level converter. In particular, a novel voltage-source method of multi-level modulation is introduced and compared to existing methods. The proposed method is discrete in nature and can therefore be readily implemented on a digital signal processor (DSP). The method is also readily extendable to any number of voltage levels. Results of experimental implementation are …

Using A Neuro-Fuzzy-Genetic Data Mining Architecture To Determine A Marketing Strategy In A Charitable Organization's Donor Database, Korakot Hemsathapat, Cihan H. Dagli, David Lee Enke

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper describes the use of a neuro-fuzzy-genetic data mining architecture for finding hidden knowledge and modeling the data of the 1997 donation campaign of an American charitable organization. This data was used during the 1998 KDD Cup competition. In the architecture, all input variables are first preprocessed and all continuous variables are fuzzified. Principal component analysis (PCA) is then applied to reduce the dimensions of the input variables in finding combinations of variables, or factors, that describe major trends in the data. The reduced dimensions of the input variables are then used to train probabilistic neural networks (PNN) to …

Chemically Accurate Conformational Energies For Aziridine-2-Carbonitrile, Gregory S. Tschumper

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

The energy of trans-aziridine-2-carbonitrile relative to cis-aziridine-2-carbonitrile was determined by carrying out extensive ab initio computations. The coupled cluster technique was used to determine the higher order computations, that includes perturbative estimate of the triple excitations. The electronic energy of the transition structure connecting the two conformers was determined to be 77.15 kJ/mol higher than the cis-isomer.

Study Of The Gender Representations Within The Aliens Series, Whitney Anspach

Open Access Master's Theses

This study employed a detailed examination of and comparison between and among each of the four films within the Alien series to explore and demonstrate distinct differences in gender representation in the series. This study has also determined that there exists a relationship between these differing gender representations and concurrent changes in the gender norms of films created for the primary target audience the United States with secondary international audiences. This determination was aided by a detailed examination of the gender norms in multiple genres including science fiction, action, horror, and hybrid mixtures of these three. In addition, gender representations …

The National Invasive Species Act Of 1996: An Assessment Of Current Statutes And Potential Changes And Improvements For Future Legislation Regarding Ballast Water Discharge And Prevention Of Invasion By Non-Indigenous Species, Alison P. Armstrong

Open Access Master's Theses

Ninety-five percent of consumer goods used in the United States reach the markets by way of vessel transport. Each of these vessels carries ballast water, and with it, exotic organisms from ports around the world that can threaten native ecosystems.

A survey (n=10) conducted to gather perceptions on existing ballast water legislation shows that those state and federal agencies who are involved agree on certain aspects of the issue, but there are broad areas of dissent regarding other aspects. Policy actors do feel that this issue must be regulated, however, an agreement on how to reach the goals of ballast …

Investigation Of The Physical Mechanisms Controlling Exchange Between Mount Hope Bay And The Sakonnet River, William Deleo

Open Access Master's Theses

The complexities of estuarine circulation control the exchange of physical, chemical and biological quantities between oceanic and riverine systems. This exchange is predominantly driven by three distinct forcing mechanisms: tides, winds and density. The influence of each mechanism must be understood in order to interpret and predict the currents. This study investigates the circulation in the upper Sakonnet River (SR) and Mount Hope Bay (MHB), with respect to each forcing mechanism.

This study also investigates how exchange between the lower SR and MHB is affected by the complex geomorphology of the upper SR. Circulation in the upper SR, or the …

The Physiological Effects Of Catch And Release Angling On The Post-Release Survivorship Of Juvenile Sandbar Sharks (Carcharhinus Plumbeus), Abbey Leigh Spargo

Open Access Master's Theses

A post release survivorship study of juvenile sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) was conducted in Delaware Bay during 1999-2000. A total of 104 sharks were captured and sampled for changes in blood chemistry after exposure to exhaustive exercise. Of these, 24 sharks were angled in the field, sampled, tagged, and released. The remaining 80 sharks were transported to a holding tank, allowed to recover, and half were angled to exhaustion. To quantify recovery, blood samples were taken from these fish at 0,1.5, 3, 6, 10, 14 and 24 hours, then tagged and released. Blood was obtained by caudal …

Indigo-Resist Prints From Eighteenth-Century America: Production And Provenance, Mary Elizabeth Gale

Open Access Master's Theses

A unique group of textiles patterned with blue designs on white cloth are called American blue-resist prints by some textile historians because, with few exceptions, they are found only in museums and private collections in America. Textile historians believe that these resist prints were produced in the eighteenth century by a unique technique but are not sure of the method used to produce these indigo-dyed fabrics or where they were produced.

This thesis explores probable methods used to create the patterns of the blue resists by studying the clues left behind by the printers in the fabrics themselves. I examined …

Cognitive Differences In Chart Reading: A Comparison Of Nurses And Physicians, Todd R. Johnson, Vimla L. Patel, James P. Turley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This pilot study compares the mental models of a patient constructed by nurses and physicians while reading an electronic medical record. Preliminary results suggest that the participants' summaries were both quantitatively and qualitatively different. The physician made more inferences and focused on deeper relationships in the record, whereas the nurse focused on the descriptive surface structure of the record.

Comparing Several Self-Report Measures Of Adherence With Medications For Hiv With Electronically Monitored Medication Adherence., Neelam Awte

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: Self-report of medication adherence is commonly used in research studies, but the information is lacking about the sensitivity, specificity, reliability and clinical validity of this method. The purpose of this study was to test the sensitivity, specificity and reliability of several methods for accessing medication compliance using patient self-report of adherence. The Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) was used as a standard against which self-report measures were compared.

Design: Cross sectional study.

Data Collection: A self-reported questionnaire accessed compliance of Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and Protease inhibitors (PI) used by the patients with IIlV infection during the …

Design, Synthesis And Antimicrobial Activity Of Novel Antimicrobial Peptides, Khaled Elsaid

Open Access Master's Theses

In the past decade, a large number of naturally occuring thiazole and oxazole-containing peptides have been isolated from microbial and marine origins. These peptides exhibit important antimicrobial, antiviral, and anticancer activities. Solid phase synthesis of peptides provides the methods to prepare and investigate novel compounds for possible use as antibiotics. Three combinatorial peptide libraries, library 1, an enantiomeric peptide library, library 2, with guanidinium, thiazole and benzothiophene side chains and library 3, designed from a template natural product, microcin Bl 7, were tested against Vibrio anguillarum (wild type), Escherichia coli (ZK 4) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in zone …

Which Patients Return To Antihypertensive Drug Therapy After Discontinuation?, Prafulla S. Girase

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: Using a self-administered questionnaire, the objectives of this study were: (1) to identify the predictors that discriminate between the patients who consider returning to antihypertensive therapy and those who indicate that they will not return to drug therapy; (2) to compare the predictors of returning to antihypertensive drug therapy in a North American population (United States, and Canada) with a European (France, Germany, and Italy) population.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Data Collection: An existing dataset was obtained from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), New Jersey. BMS recruited patients with a diagnosis of hypertension from five different countries (USA, …

La Conceptualización De La Cultura En La Obra De Sarmiento Y Sus Implicaciones Políticas Para La Formación De Una Identidad Cultural Argentina, Marta Belen Rodriguez Galan

Open Access Master's Theses

El propósito fundamental de este trabajo es discutir como Sarmiento conceptualiza la cultura y cuales son las implicaciones prácticas de esa cosmovisión en su política educativa. Como veremos su ideario está muy influido por ideas racionalistas y utilitaristas.

Por medio de fuentes de la erudición histórica y literaria trataremos de explicar las condiciones originales en que fue creada la obra de Sarmiento. También utilizaremos teorías mas actuales (Jacques Derrida, Walter Benjamin, Fredric Jameson...) para poner el debate en perspectiva.

Otro de los objetivos de este trabajo es profundizar en el estudio de las ideas de Sarmiento sobre la cultura, rescatando …

Effects Of High Temperature Exposure On The Tensile Ductility Of An Aged Metastable Beta Titanium Alloy, Mohammed Almesallmy

Open Access Master's Theses

The recommended continuos operating temperature for Timetal 21S is below 540 °C. Application temperature for this alloy can, however exceed this level, with attendant embrittlement due to oxidation. The present study examines the effects of exposures in air on the tensile ductility of fully aged Timetal 21S sheet specimens in temperature range 482 - 693 °C. In this thesis, the kinetics of the loss of tensile ductility is investigated as a function of exposure temperature and sheet thickness. The experimental embrittlement activation energies are estimated by determining exposure times at various temperatures to reach close to zero ductility at room …

Evaluation And Rationalization Methodology For The Acquisition Of Packaging Capital Equipment And Services, Craig E. Densmore

Theses

The development of proactive methods for the evaluation, selection, standardization, and rationalization of capital equipment and services used in the medical device industry will benefit equipment/process interchangeability and will result in lower costs of goods (COG). Reduced exposures to legal and regulatory issues are also expected. At the time this study began, senior management believed staff should have the latitude to make continuous improvements initiated without the burden of a corporate regulatory, engineering, quality, or procurement oversight, as long as each facility continued to meet or exceed appropriate performance standards and government regulations.

This work seeks to document the technical, …

Decreasing Returns To Shareholders From Randd Spending In The Computer Industry, Del A. Mank, Halvard Nystrom

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article explores the relationship between stockholder value changes and corporate research and development (RandD) spending in the computer industry. Researchers attempted to tie RandD expenditures and its various measurable effects to future results of the firms within an industry, with mixed results. They identify a positive, short-term relationship between stockholder share price movements and firm announcements of plans to increase RandD expenditures. They also show that industries with higher RandD intensities grow faster than those with low RandD intensities. However, little research is available that effectively relates RandD expenditures to future share price performance of the firms within an …

Rms Titanic: A Metallurgical Problem, Hollis P. Leighly, B. L. Bramfitt, S. J. Lawrence

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Characterization And Soldering Of Organic Modified Aluminum Thin Films And Bond Pads, Rui Fang, Eric Dahlgren, Matthew O'Keefe, Thomas J. O'Keefe, Wu Sheng Shih, Daniel R. Gamota, Jie Zhang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An immersion plating process using organic solutions was used to deposit a seed layer of copper and to activate the surface of thin film aluminum surfaces and bond pads. The seeded surfaces were subsequently electroless copper plated and tested for compatibility with soldering assembly. It was demonstrated that the copper particles deposited from the organic solution onto sputter deposited aluminum thin films were able to act as nucleation sites for the subsequent buildup of adherent, continuous copper films from conventional electroless plating baths. In addition, the metal deposition from organic solution process was found to be very selective on patterned …

Comment On "Influence Of Fe³⁺/Fe2+ Ratio On The Crystallization Of Iron-Rich Glasses Made With Industrial Wastes", Chandra S. Ray, Mario Pelino, Alexander Karamanov

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Electrical Conductivity And Lattice Defects In Nanocrystalline Cerium Oxide Thin Films, Toshio Suzuki, Igor Kosacki, Harlan U. Anderson, Philippe Colomban

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The results of the electrical conductivity and Raman scattering measurements of CeO₂ thin films obtained by a polymeric precursor spin-coating technique are presented. The electrical conductivity has been studied as a function of temperature and oxygen activity and correlated with the grain size. When compared with microcrystalline samples, nanocrystalline materials show enhanced electronic conductivity. The transition from extrinsic to intrinsic type of conductivity has been observed as the grain size decreases to < 100 nm, which appears to be related to a decrease in the enthalpy of oxygen vacancy formation in CeO₂. Raman spectroscopy has been used to analyze the crystalline quality as a function of grain size. A direct comparison has been made between the defect …

Spontaneous, Non-Aqueous Electrochemical Deposition Of Copper And Palladium On Al And Al(Cu) Thin Films, R. Fang, H. Gu, Matthew O'Keefe, Thomas J. O'Keefe, W. S. Shih, K. D. Leedy, R. Cortez

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Copper and palladium seed layers have been successfully deposited from organic solutions onto patterned and unpatterned pure aluminum and Al (0.5%Cu) thin films using an immersion displacement process. The reaction occurs at ambient temperature and pressure by a spontaneous electrochemical mechanism. Copper and palladium deposition using the organic solution was studied as a function of reaction time and Cu or Pd concentration in the solution. It was found that both time and the initial ionic metal concentration significantly influence deposit morphology, particle size and shape, and adherence. Nucleation of Cu or Pd sub-micron particles on both Al and Al (Cu) …

Transmutation Of Obect, Jiyong Lee

Theses

This thesis is the result of years studying art and design. I felt fortunate to be introduced to glass during the past two years. I spent most of the first year developing ideas, exploring process and avoiding functional and pragmatic issues. Those are important elements for designing an object but thinking about my own unique approach was more important. The other goal of the first year was gaining experience with glass as a new material. Before I started my second year, I recognized concepts that had been recurring in my works for the past few years. I found an inseparable …

Impromptu Creation Of Metal Sculpture, Yu-Ting Shih

Theses

Not listed.

Part One: Pitch, Problems And Process; Part Two: Chasing A Relationship, Russell Baron

Theses

Not listed.

Familial Dichotomy, Suzan Atesoglu

Theses

Not listed.

Crossing Methodological Boundaries: Assessing Visitor Motivations And Support For Management Actions At Yellowstone National Park Using Quantitative And Qualitative Research Approaches, William T. Borrie, Wayne A. Freimund, Mae A. Davenport, Robert E. Manning

Society and Conservation Faculty Publications

Winter use of Yellowstone National Park has given rise to a complex of management issues, including rapid growth in recreation demand, environmental impacts of snowmobiling, and a string of litigation against the National Park Service (NPS) designed to both protect park resources and maintain public access (Sacklin et al. 2000). The intertwined character of these problems suggests that none can be resolved independently of the other, that policy must be comprehensive in nature, and that many sources of knowledge may be required to effect their resolution.

Internet Conferencing Tools For Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Users, Lee Kowalsky

Theses

This research study investigates Internet chat visual tools in communications used by Deaf and hard of hearing users and how the users interact with the chat tools expressing their visual language to convey the best message they can in general. A number of Internet chat tools consisting of visual emoticons have been established and implemented for online communications. These tools are generalized for public use. In this study, the research includes the current IM model, along with my recent studies, which use Deaf/hard of hearing for this project. An analysis of the results and prototype of this study on Internet …

Segmented Face Detection Using Clustering, Gunturi Srimanth

Theses

Perception forms a very important part of learning. The way we perceive things has a lot to do with how we understand. It forms a very crucial link in our build-up of knowledge. Living organisms have a remarkable ability of understanding spatial information. It is due to their inherent ability of generating native organizations, models, etc, and most importantly, their ability to generalize and infer - based upon symmetry, probability, familiarity, etc, that allows them to instantly adapt their knowledge to the given surroundings. It forms a very basic step in survival. When trying to make machines intelligent, one of …

0702: Kenneth Hechler Collection, Book Correspondence, 1954-1998, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Letters to Cecil Roberts of Fort Worth, Texas about Hechler's book, "The Bridge at Remagen"; includes a letter from L. E. Engeman, Col. U. S. Army ret., who commanded the 14th Tank Battalion at the taking of the bridge.